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So basically... any ideas on site selection for an overnight, whether I should be starting heading west or east, and how far I can expect to make it in a day.

I can't help you with specifics on the trail in Kilarney. That being said, I've read a number of backpack trip planning articles and they said to plan on 3km per hour of travel over varied terrain. Obviously this averages out over a long distance. So expect to go slower on more challenging sections with lots of hill climbing, and faster on flatter easier sections of the trail.

Have fun on your trip.

Cheers

Brian

Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. - Unknown

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Fingers crossed for a couple of days of sunshine when I manage to get out there. I've done a lot more portaging in that park than hiking the trail as well. Last year was 3 days and 2 nights of solid thunderstorms on Boundary and David and Balsam. Nothing like packing up to move camp in a downpour (but it still beats being at home!)

Craziest storm I ever went through was on Johnnie Lake (I think) just east of Silver Peak in Killarney. My buddy and I had paddled in from the north and were camped on a site in the shadow of the hill; a really cool site with a long, submerged rock pier that I had walked out onto to avoid the bugs in the rising breeze.

I looked up to Silver Peak and there were a few scattered clouds blowing over on a western wind. Quite pretty. I became absorbed chatting with my pal as the wind began to gust a bit. I turned to face the wind in time to see a huge black stormcloud come tearing over top of Silver Peak like a massive wave. It wasn't more than a couple of minutes before we were hit with a deluge of rain, lightening and what must have been a microburst. It all but flattened our tent. It was amazing!!! The weather coming off of the Georgian Bay can get pretty extreme!

Last edited by Chard; 03-21-2013 at 18:28.

Survival is about getting out alive, Bushcraft is about going in to live - Chard (aka Forest-Hobo)

I hiked the Silhouette Trail in 2011. It's about as good as hiking gets in Ontario, and I recommend it to anyone who loves beauty.

My advice for an overnight would be to follow the good advice already given. Go counterclockwise, enter the trail from the highway, not from George Lake, ( this will save a lot of level hiking on old forest roads) hike up to the unfortunately named "The Crack" and then continue northeast toward Little Superior Lake and Proulx Lake.

The view from the Crack, and The Crack itself are simply awesome, and a real highlight of the hike. And the beautiful blue lakes along the trail, surrounded with quartzite rock, are a treat.

I travelled clockwise so I came down the Crack, but I could look at my maps and figure out approximate travel times ( for a 47 year-old male in okay shape, not out to set any speed records, but trying to stay safe and injury free when hiking solo).

PM me and I'll take a look. In a day you could climb the crack and get to some of those awesome lakes, certainly to Little Superior or Proulx, and depending how keen you are, to Heaven or even Bunnyrabbit. But it's diminishing returns, as the first two lakes give you that lake experience, and you will want to dawdle on top of the Crack and take pictures. And Bunnyrabbit, which would be an awesome lake anywhere else, is merely ordinary after seeing Little Superior and Proulx.

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll plan to take it counter-clockwise and head up the crack. Sturgeon that sounds great, I will definitely take you up on the offer and will benefit from your experience.

Chard you're absolutely right about the weather in Georgian Bay... We've got a cottage in MacGregor Bay, and when the wind picks up we've had our 18 foot aluminum sunk more than once from white caps pounding the shore!

Thanks! This is definitely going to help. Looks like since it's just a one night stay for me, I'll hike in from the highway trailhead instead of the park office, take the hike up "The Crack" and see if I can't book the site on Little Superior for the night.

No online reservations for hiking sites, I wonder if I can still reserve over the phone.

No online reservations for hiking sites, I wonder if I can still reserve over the phone.

Even in the fall in prime hiking season i was able to phone 4 days beforehand and, while i didn't get my first picks of sites for every night, i was satisfied. In spring I doubt you will have any trouble.